Spectrum analysis capability in network and/or system communication devices

ABSTRACT

Spectrum analysis (SA) capability is included in various communication devices within a communication network. One or more of the devices use the SA information from other devices in the system to determine status of various communication links were devices in the system. One or more processors within one or more devices can identify any actual/existing or expected failure or degradation of the various components within the system. Such components may include communication devices, communication channels or links, interfaces, interconnections, etc. When an actual/existing or expected failure or degradation is identified, the affected components may be serviced or devices within the system may operate to mitigate any reduction in performance caused by such problems. Such SA functionality/capability may be implemented in one communication device or in a distributed manner across a number of devices in a communication system.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED PATENTS/PATENT APPLICATIONS ContinuationPriority Claim, 35 U.S.C. § 120

The present U.S. Utility Patent Application claims priority pursuant to35 U.S.C. § 120 as a continuation of U.S. Utility application Ser. No.14/551,313, entitled “Spectrum analysis capability in network and/orsystem communication devices,” filed Nov. 24, 2014, pending, whichclaims priority pursuant to 35 U.S.C. § 120 as a continuation of U.S.Utility application Ser. No. 13/931,626, entitled “Spectrum analysiscapability in network and/or system communication devices,” filed Jun.28, 2013, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,897,147 issued on Nov. 25, 2014, whichclaims priority pursuant to 35 U.S.C. § 119(e) to U.S. ProvisionalApplication No. 61/666,750, entitled “Spectrum analysis capability innetwork and/or system communication devices,” filed Jun. 29, 2012, andU.S. Provisional Application No. 61/819,279, entitled “Spectrum analysiscapability in network and/or system communication devices,” filed May 3,2013, all of which are hereby incorporated herein by reference in theirentirety and made part of the present U.S. Utility Patent Applicationfor all purposes.

U.S. Utility application Ser. No. 13/931,626 also claims prioritypursuant to 35 U.S.C. § 120 as a continuation-in-part of U.S. Utilityapplication Ser. No. 13/428,309, entitled “Upstream frequency responsemeasurement and characterization,” filed Mar. 23, 2012, now issued asU.S. Pat. No. 8,948,316 on Feb. 3, 2015, which claims priority pursuantto 35 U.S.C. § 119(e) to U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/467,659,entitled “Upstream frequency response measurement and characterization,”filed Mar. 25, 2011, all of which are hereby incorporated herein byreference in their entirety and made part of the present U.S. UtilityPatent Application for all purposes.

U.S. Utility application Ser. No. 13/931,626 also claims prioritypursuant to 35 U.S.C. § 120 as a continuation-in-part of U.S. Utilityapplication Ser. No. 13/428,698, entitled “Characterization andassessment of communication channel average group delay variation,”filed Mar. 23, 2012, now issued as U.S. Pat. No. 8,891,699 on Nov. 18,2014, which claims priority pursuant to 35 U.S.C. § 119(e) to U.S.Provisional Application No. 61/467,638, entitled “Detection andcharacterization of laser clipping within communication devices,” filedMar. 25, 2011; U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/467,659, entitled“Upstream frequency response measurement and characterization,” filedMar. 25, 2011, U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/467,673, entitled“Upstream burst noise measurement and characterization during datatransmission,” filed Mar. 25, 2011; and U.S. Provisional Application No.61/474,186, entitled “Characterization and assessment of communicationchannel average group delay variation,” filed Apr. 11, 2011, all ofwhich are hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entirety andmade part of the present U.S. Utility Patent Application for allpurposes.

BACKGROUND Technical Field

The present disclosure relates generally to communication systems; and,more particularly, to characterizing, tracking, and/or monitoringoperation of various components and/or elements within suchcommunication systems

Description of Related Art

Data communication systems have been under continual development formany years. Sometimes, problems may occur that affect one or more of thevarious components within such communication systems so that the overallperformance is less than optimal. Various problems such as equipmentfailure, degrading interfaces or connectors, etc. reduce the overalleffectiveness of communications within such communication systems.

Diagnosis of such problems is typically performed by service personnelwho conduct a service call to one or more locations where customerscomplain of poor service. Also, such service personnel can only analyzeone given location at a time. A great deal of time is required toperform analysis of multiple locations within a communication system,and this procedure may be very labor and cost intensive.

Even after existing problems are identified and repaired, other problemsmay subsequently arise and cause other problems which also lead todegradation of the communication system's performance. Generally, acommunication system's overall performance and fitness is dynamic andchanging over time.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an embodiment of one or morecommunication systems.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating another embodiment of one or morecommunication systems.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a communication device operative withinone or more communication systems.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an embodiment of one or morecommunication systems with multi-channel communication links.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating another embodiment of one or morecommunication systems with multi-channel communication links.

FIG. 6A is a diagram illustrating an example of processing to identifyan actual/existing or expected failure or degradation within acommunication system.

FIG. 6B is a diagram illustrating a communication channel partitionedinto multiple sub-bands or sub-channels.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating communication between communicationdevices to generate spectrum analysis (SA) information.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an embodiment of a method for executionby one or more communication devices.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating another embodiment of a method forexecution by one or more communication devices.

FIG. 10A is a diagram illustrating another embodiment of a method forexecution by one or more communication devices.

FIG. 10B is a diagram illustrating another embodiment of a method forexecution by one or more communication devices.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an embodiment 100 of one or morecommunication systems. One or more network segments 190 providecommunication inter-connectivity for at least two communication devices110 and 120. Generally speaking, any desired number of communicationdevices are included within one or more communication systems (e.g., asshown by communication devices one 130 and 140). Some or all the variouscommunication devices 110-140 include capability to generate spectrumanalysis (SA) information based on the one or more communicationchannels via which they communicate to other devices. For example, SAinformation may include various characteristics such as a communicationchannels frequency response, a device's internal frequency response(e.g., how that devices operation may affect the various communicationchannels via which it communicates), interference or noise detected oncommunication channel, reflections, frequency nulls on a communicationchannel, etc. Also, such SA information may correspond to changes ortrends associated with any such characteristics. The various devices110-140 provide SA information to other of the devices 110-140 for usein determining the operation of the one or more communication systems.SA information may be provided automatically between various devices110-140, such as at particular times (e.g., periodically, oraperiodically such as when a device is idle or has processing capabilityto generate such SA information, such as when not using all of thedevice's processing resources or capabilities). Alternatively, such SAinformation may be provided upon one device requesting it from another.Generally, a device (e.g., cable modem termination system (CMTS)) canreceive various SA information from different devices in the one or morecommunication systems. At least some of this SA information is based onfull bandwidth of a usable frequency spectrum in the one or morecommunication systems. For example, in the context of a cable basedsystem, at least some SA information is wideband to allow observation ofthe whole cable plant signal from 54 MHz to 1008 MHz and beyond theselimits. Based on the received SA information, this device then has agreat deal of visibility into the one or more communication systems.From the perspective of a device such as a CMTS in a cable based system,the CMTS has a broad range of visibility into the entirety of thedownstream radio frequency (RF) including any or all of the variousservice flows included in such a cable plant system such as thosedescribed with reference to FIG. 2.

For an example of operation, device 110 includes a communicationinterface to transmit a signal to device 120 to request SA informationthere from. The device 110 includes a processor to process the receivedSA information and to determine one or more other characteristics (e.g.,which can be used to identify an operational error, failure, ordegradation, an operational trend, a future or expected operationalerror, failure, or degradation, etc.) associated with performance of oneor more communication channels in the system. Based on the one or moreother characteristics, the device 110 may then identify anactual/existing and/or expected failure or degradation of communicationassociated with those one or more communication channels.

In another example of operation, device 110 may receive first SAinformation from device 120 and second SA information from device 130.Device 110 can then employ both the first SA information and the secondSA information to determine an operational trend of one or morecommunication channels in the system. This first SA information andsecond SA information may correspond to two entirely differentcomponents within the system, or it may correspond to a commoncomponents (e.g., such that the first and second SA informationcorresponds to two different times).

In an example of SA information generation, device 120 may receive asignal that includes pilot tones from device 110. Device 120 can thenprocess the received pilot tones, and compared to their expected values,can determine the effect of the communication link between devices 110and 120. That is to say, device 120 generates SA information based oncharacterization of the pilot tones received from device 110. Device 120can then provide this SA information may then be provided to device 110automatically or upon request. In addition, device 120 may use thisrecently generated SA information to characterize operation of thecommunication link between devices 110 and 120 including identifying anactual/existing or expected failure or degradation of communication viathat communication link.

In another example of SA information generation, device 120 may includean equalizer that employs equalizer coefficients to perform equalizationof signals that it receives. Device 120 may provide SA information todevice 110 that is based on the values of those equalizer coefficientsor changes in those equalizer coefficients relative to prior values.

Also, any of the various devices 110-140 may have an internal frequencyresponse that affects operation of the system, and SA information may bebased on a given device's internal frequency response. For example,device 120 may provide SA information to device 110 that is based on thefrequency response of the device 120 in terms of its effect on thesystem.

Various examples have been described in which a given device, such asdevice 110, performs the appropriate processing to determine anoperational trend of one or more components in the system and also toidentify an actual/existing or expected failure or degradation ofcommunication associated with those one or more components. Note alsothat such processing may be implemented in a distributed manner amongtwo or more of the devices 110-140. That is to say, two or more of thedevices 110-140 may operate cooperatively to process SA information andto determine any such actual/existing or expected failure or degradationof communication associated with those one or more components. Thevarious devices 110-140 may communicate signals amongst one anotherrelated to such actual/existing or expected failure or degradation ofcommunication associated with those one or more components. Generallyspeaking, such SA functionality/capability may be implemented in adistributed manner across a number of devices within one or morecommunication systems. Also, when an actual/existing or expected failureor degradation is identified, the affected components may be serviced(e.g., by service personnel) or devices within the system may operateadaptively to mitigate any reduction in performance caused by suchproblems.

With respect to a particular type of SA functionality included within aremote device (e.g., within any of the various devices 110-140), theremote SA functionality may be wideband (e.g., observing the entireusable frequency spectrum associated with the communication system). Forexample, considering a cable plant type implementation, remotelyimplemented SA functionality may be wideband to allow observation of thewhole cable plant signal from 54 MHz to 1008 MHz and beyond theselimits. This permits the headend (or CMTS) to view problems that areaffecting channels other than the ones currently in use by a givenhome/premises. For example, a micro-reflection in the cable may producea ripple in the frequency response with a relative null on a givenfrequency channel “A”. The user may at the current time be using channel“B” which is not affected by the null, so his service has not yet beencompromised by the presence of this reflection. However, in the futurethe null could move in frequency close to channel A (due to phasechanges in the physical process producing the reflection/null), or theservice currently on channel B could be moved to channel A, either ofwhich would cause the null to begin to affect the service at thiscustomer. With the wideband SA the headend (or CMTS) will observe thenull on channel A, and will be able to perform preventive maintenance tofix the reflection/null before the problem occurs.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating another embodiment 200 of one or morecommunication systems. A cable headend transmitter 230 provides serviceto a set-top box (STB) 220 via cable network segment 298. The STB 220provides output to a display capable device 210. The cable headendtransmitter 230 can support any of a number of service flows such asaudio, video, local access channels, as well as any other service ofcable systems. For example, the cable headend transmitter 230 canprovide media (e.g., video and/or audio) to the display capable device.

The cable headend transmitter 230 may provide operation of a cable modemtermination system (CMTS) 240 a. That is to say, the cable headendtransmitter 230 may perform such CMTS functionality, or a CMTS may beimplemented separately from the cable headend transmitter 230 (e.g., asshown by reference numeral 240). The CMTS 240 can provide networkservice (e.g., Internet, other network access, etc.) to any number ofcable modems (shown as CM 1, CM 2, and up to CM n) via a cable modem(CM) network segment 299. The cable network segment 298 and the CMnetwork segment 299 may be part of a common network or common networks.The cable modem network segment 299 couples the cable modems 1-n to theCMTS (shown as 240 or 240 a). Such a cable system (e.g., cable networksegment 298 and/or CM network segment 299) may generally be referred toas a cable plant and may be implemented, at least in part, as a hybridfiber-coaxial (HFC) network (e.g., including various wired and/oroptical fiber communication segments, light sources, light or photodetection complements, etc.).

A CMTS 240 or 240 a is a component that exchanges digital signals withcable modems 1-n on the cable modem network segment 299. Each of thecable modems coupled to the cable modem network segment 299, and anumber of elements may be included within the cable modem networksegment 299. For example, routers, splitters, couplers, relays, andamplifiers may be contained within the cable modem network segment 299.Generally speaking, downstream information may be viewed is that whichflows from the CMTS 240 to the connected cable modems (e.g., CM 1, CM2,etc.), and upstream information is that which flows from the cablemodems to the CMTS 240.

At least some of the devices within this diagram support the SAinformation functionality described herein. For one example ofoperation, the CMTS 240 may be implemented to include a communicationinterface to transmit a signal to CM 1 to request SA information therefrom. The CMTS 240 includes a processor to process the received SAinformation and to determine an operational trend of one or morecommunication channels in the system (e.g., between the CMTS 240 in theCM 1). Based on the operational trend, the CMTS 240 may then identify anactual/existing or expected failure or degradation of communicationassociated with those one or more communication channels. Analogously,any of the other devices within the diagram may also include such SAcapability as described herein. The various devices within the diagrammay communicate SA information to each other and also provideinformation based on operational trends and actual/existing or expectedfailures or degradations of communications made along the variouscommunication paths between the various devices in the diagram. In oneexample of operation, any one or more of the cable modems or and/or theSTB 220 can include capability to generate SA information based on oneor more communication channels within the communication system. Some orall of the SA information can be based on full bandwidth of a usablefrequency spectrum in the communication system. This SA information canbe provided to another device (e.g., the CMTS 240) for use indetermining one or more characteristics associated with performance ofthe one or more communication channels in the communication system andfor identifying, based on the one or more characteristics, a degradationof communication associated with the one or more communication channels.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a communication device 110 operativewithin one or more communication systems. The device 110 includes acommunication interface 320 and a processor 330. The communicationinterface 320 includes functionality of a transmitter 322 and thereceiver 324 to support communications with one or more other deviceswithin a communication system. The device 110 may also include memory340 to store information including SA information generated by thedevice 110 or SA information received from other devices via one or morecommunication channels. Memory 340 may also include and store variousoperational instructions for use by the processor 330 in regards to theSA functionality described herein.

The device 110 operates to transmit and receive SA information and/orrequests for such SA information to and from other devices within thecommunication system. For example, the communication interface 320 maybe configured to transmit requests to one or more other devices withinthe system to request SA information. Those other devices will thentransmit SA information to the device 110, and the processor 330 willprocess the SA information to determine one or more operational trendsassociated with one or more communication channels within the system.Based upon the identified operational trends, the processor 330 willthen identify any actual/existing or expected failures or degradationsof communications associated with the communication system.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an embodiment 400 of one or morecommunication systems with multi-channel communication links.Communication devices 110 and 120 may communicate with one another viaone or more communication channels (e.g., as shown by CH1 through CH x).Each of the devices 110 and 120 include SA functionality. For example,device 110 includes a processor 330 in the memory 340. Device 120includes a processor 330 a memory 340 a. The memories 340 and 340 a canstore SA information and/or include operational instructions for use bythe processors 330 and 330 a.

Multiple network segments may interconnect the devices 110 and 120 toother respective devices that may also include SA functionality therein.Any of the various devices may communicate with one another via themulti-channel communication links and/or network segments. SAfunctionality is distributed across multiple devices within the one ormore communication systems. SA information is determined by thesevarious devices and communicated to other of the devices for use indetermining operational trends and/or actual/existing or expectedfailures or degradations of communications along any of the variouscommunication links within the system.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating another embodiment 500 of one or morecommunication systems with multi-channel communication links. Theembodiment 500 has some similarities to the previous embodiment 400, inthat, two respective devices may communicate with one another viamulti-channel communication links. However, in this diagram,communication device 510 includes SA functionality 1 and communicationdevice 520 includes SA functionality 2. Different respective devicesneed not necessarily have the same SA functionality or capabilities. Forexample, device 510 includes components 1, 2, and up to y. Device 520includes components 1, 2, and up to x. The devices 510 and 520 mayinclude some common components, but need not necessarily include thesame components. These different components can generate different typesof SA information. For example, component 1 in device 510 may determinea channel estimate of a communication link. Component 2 in device 510may determine a frequency response of that communication link. Acomponent 3 (not shown) in device 510 may determine interference ornoise detected on that communication link. Generally speaking, differentcomponents can have different respective capabilities and functions, andthe devices 510 and 530 need not necessarily have the exact samecapabilities in terms of generating SA information. In addition, otherrespective devices 330 may also include different respective SAfunctionalities 3 as well.

Different devices implemented within the system that include differentSA functionalities can operate cooperatively to provide a great deal ofinformation regarding the overall operation of the communication systemin which the devices reside. Also, an implementation that allows fordifferent SA functionalities to be provisioned within different devicescan provide for a more efficient implementation of resources.

FIG. 6A is a diagram illustrating an example 601 of processing toidentify an actual/existing or expected failure or degradation within acommunication system. SA information in the form of frequency responses(e.g., frequency response 1, frequency response 2, and possibly up tofrequency response n) undergo processing to determine an operationaltrend of at least one component within the system. This operationaltrend assists in the identification of an actual/existing or expectedfailure or degradation of that at least one component in the system.

FIG. 6B is a diagram illustrating a communication channel 602partitioned into multiple sub-bands or sub-channels. Some SA informationmay be wideband in nature such as spanning two or more of the sub-bandsor sub-channels. In one or more embodiments, SA information maycorrespond to full bandwidth of communication system's usable frequencyspectrum. Alternatively, other SA information may correspond to one ofthe sub-bands or sub-channels. Also, when various SA informationcorresponds to one of the sub-bands or sub-channels, the SA informationmay be combined to generate SA information that corresponds to fullbandwidth of communication system's usable frequency spectrum.

The SA information can be generated using a combination of fast Fouriertransform (FFT) and swept/stepped techniques. Considering one example ofoperation, samples from the wideband analog-to-digital converter (ADC)can be captured in a memory, an FFT/DFT (fast Fourier transform,discrete Fourier transform, or other filter bank technique) taken, andthe entire broadband SA spectrum computed instantaneously based on thosesamples (e.g., corresponding to full bandwidth of communication system'susable frequency spectrum). Considering another example of operation, asingle analog or digital filter can be swept or stepped across the bandat each frequency that the received power is measured to provide aswept/stepped SA capability. Intermediate between these two examples ofoperation is stepping an FFT across the band to generate the SAinformation.

For example, a filter of 7.5 MHz bandwidth is positioned at a givenfrequency, samples are captured, and an FFT is taken. Then, the filteris moved to the next frequency, and the FFT is repeated. This process isrepeated across the whole band from a first to a second frequency (e.g.,from 54 MHz to 1008 MHz or wider). The individual narrowband (7.5 MHz)FFT segments are then combined or stitched together to produce widebandSA information.

Signaling on a given communication channel may be based on the givenfrequency or a given frequency band. Acquired or generated SAinformation may be relatively wideband such that it spans more than thefrequency or frequency band associated with the communication channel.Alternatively, acquired or generated SA information may be relativelynarrowband such that each individual SA information components may bebut based on a sub-band of a relatively larger frequency band.

With respect to the particular SA functionality or capability includedwithin a device, the SA functionality may be wideband (e.g., observingthe entire usable frequency spectrum associated with the communicationsystem) or narrowband (e.g., observing only narrowband portions of thefrequency spectrum) such as with reference to the differing capabilitiesdescribed in FIG. 5.

For example, considering a cable plant type implementation such as withreference to FIG. 2, remotely implemented SA functionality may bewideband (e.g., corresponding to full bandwidth of communicationsystem's usable frequency spectrum) to allow observation of the wholecable plant signal from 54 MHz to 1008 MHz and beyond these limits. Thispermits a cable headend transmitter (or CMTS) to view problems that areaffecting channels other than the ones currently in use by a givenhome/premises. For example, a micro-reflection in the cable may producea ripple in the frequency response with a relative null on a givenfrequency channel “A”. At the current time, a CM may be using channel“B” which is not affected by the null, so that's CM's service has notyet been compromised by the presence of this reflection. However, in thefuture, the null could move in frequency close to channel A (due tophase changes in the physical process producing the reflection/null), orthe service currently on channel B could be moved to channel A, eitherof which would cause the null to begin to affect the service at thiscustomer. With the wideband SA functionality, the headend (or CMTS) mayobserve the null on channel A, and the headend (or CMTS) will then beable to perform preventive maintenance to fix the reflection/null beforethe problem occurs or fully manifests itself. One or more operationaltrends of one or more elements within a communication system (e.g., anydevice, communication channel or link, etc. within the communicationsystem) may be determined, monitored, tracked, etc. to ascertainhistorical and current operation of any such elements and also toestimate or predict future operation of any such elements.

Also, to improve SA selectivity, window functions such as Hanning,Hamming, Blackman/Harris, etc. may be applied to the FFT results in thetime and/or frequency domains. Windowing permits the SA to displaysignals of large power difference (large dynamic range) which are closetogether in frequency, without blurring them together, and it alsopermits accurate measurement of signal power. Also, such techniques mayalso be extended in various works on multi-rate signal processing.

The SA functionality can be calibrated to improve its accuracy (e.g., atinstallation, periodically, upon occurrence of certain events, etc.).For example, a cable modem (CM) or set top box (STB) has its owninternal frequency response which may obscure the frequency response ofthe cable system or portions thereof under measurement. Varioustechniques can be used to compensate for the self-response of theCM/STB. One approach is to measure the self-response during themanufacturing process. Another approach is to insert pilot signals thatpermit measurement of the self-response during operation, or duringpower-up.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating communication between communicationdevices 110 and 120 to generate spectrum analysis (SA) information. Thisdiagram shows communication device 110 transmitting a signal with pilottones (e.g., such as based on orthogonal frequency division multiplexing(OFDM) signaling) to communication device 120 at or during a first time.Then, the communication device 120 processed the received signal withthe channel-affected pilot tones (shown as pilot tones'). Thecommunication device 120 then determines SA information (e.g., a channelestimate, a frequency response, etc. of the communication channelbetween communication device 110 and communication device 120). Thecommunication device 120 may then transmit or provide this SAinformation to the communication device 110 for use in identifying anoperational trend of the communication channel between devices 110 and120 and any actual/existing or expected failures or degradation of thatcommunication channel.

In one example of operation, these pilot tones or signals may beinserted by a CM or STB (CM/STB) itself, or anywhere in the plant fromthe headend (or CMTS) downward. In some cases, tilt compensation may bepurposely inserted by the CM/STB ahead of the analog to digitalconverter (ADC), and this tilt compensation may obscure the tilt fromthe cable plant. It may be decided to compensate fully or partially andremove the internal or self-frequency-responses (e.g., self-response),or to leave it in place, depending on the application. Such compensationmay be performed in the time or frequency domains. Leaving theself-response in place can show the total response experienced by asignal transmitted via that communication link. Alternatively,compensating for and removing the self-response is to permit the headend(or CMTS) to analyze the performance of the cable plant itself andperform fault isolation of the plant.

In addition, any of a number of SA user interface functions may beincluded within a given device to provide additional or alternative SAinformation (e.g., added in software, such as span, center frequency,start/stop frequencies, resolution bandwidth, video bandwidth(averaging), cursors, power between cursors, max hold, multiple traces,etc.).

Within a given communication device that includes an equalizer andequalizer coefficients, those downstream equalizer coefficients may alsobe queried and used to analyze the quality of the downstream signal. Theequalizer coefficients give information on the channel response and theeffect of the channel on the signal. The equalizer coefficients and SAcapability provide further insight into the quality of the signal andcan be used to isolate faults in the plant. Upstream pre-equalizercoefficients can also be examined and compared to the downstreamequalizer coefficients, as often a fault in the cable plant will cause achange in both the upstream and downstream signals, and hence in boththe upstream and downstream equalizer coefficients.

For multi-channel receivers (e.g., such as with reference to FIG. 4,FIG. 5), there can be a set of downstream equalizer coefficients foreach receiver. For example, a 32-channel CM/STB can provide equalizercoefficients for each of its 32 channels. The responses at each channelcan be combined to produce a clearer picture of what is happening to thesignal across the band.

Also, if a spare downstream receiver (e.g., CM/STB) is available, it canbe hopped to different frequencies, and at each frequency the equalizercoefficients can be obtained, thus giving a response across the band.

Moreover, certain examples have been described herein with respect toone particular type of communication system (e.g., cable plant andincluding SA functionality implemented within one or more user devices[CM, STB, etc.] implemented within the cable system). Note that suchfunctionality may be extended towards any type of communication systemhaving any of a number of different respective types of communicationlinks implemented using any of a number of different types ofcommunication media (e.g., wired, wireless, optical, etc.). Any one ormore respective devices within the communication system may include SAfunctionality to perform acquisition, processing, analysis, reporting,etc. of any variety of types of SA information (e.g., frequencyresponses, channel estimates, changes of such parameters, etc.).

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an embodiment of a method 800 forexecution by one or more communication devices. Method 800 begins byreceiving spectrum analysis (SA) information from one or more devices ina communication system (block 810). Operation continues by processingthe SA information to determine an operational trend of one or morecommunication channels (block 820). Based on the operational trend,method 800 operates by identifying any actual/existing or expectedfailure or degradation of the communication system (block 830).

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating another embodiment of a method 900 forexecution by one or more communication devices. Method 900 begins bygenerating at least one operational trend of at least one element of thecommunication system (block 910). Based on the at least one operationaltrend, the method 900 operates by identifying any actual/existing orexpected failure or degradation of the at least one element of thecommunication system (block 920).

In decision block 930, the method 900 operates by determining whetherany actual/existing or expected failure or degradation has beenidentified (e.g., if one or more conditions have been met that wouldindicate any actual/existing or expected failure or degradation).

If no actual/existing or expected failure or degradation is identified,then the method 900 continues operation of the communication systemwithout modification (block 950). Alternatively, if an actual/existingor expected failure or degradation is in fact identified, then themethod 900 modified operation of the communication system withoutmodification (block 950). The method 900 may iterate or loop backcontinually based on monitoring of the communication system in attemptsto identify additional actual/existing or future expected failures ordegradations.

FIG. 10A is a diagram illustrating another embodiment of a method 1000for execution by one or more communication devices. Method 1000 beginsby processing first SA information received from first communicationdevice to generate first result (block 1010). Method 1000 continues byprocessing second SA information received from second communicationdevice to generate second result (block 1020). Method 1000 then operatesby combining to generate first result and second result to determineoperational trend of communication within communication system (e.g.,communication channel, communication device, etc.) (block 1030).

FIG. 10B is a diagram illustrating another embodiment of a method 1001for execution by one or more communication devices. Method 1001 beginsby processing first SA information received from communication device atfirst time to generate first result (block 1011). Method 1001 thenoperates processing second SA information received from the samecommunication device communication device at a second time to generatesecond result (block 1021). Method 1001 continues by combining togenerate first result and second result to determine operational trendof communication within communication system (e.g., communicationchannel, communication device, etc.) (block 1031).

The present invention has been described herein with reference to atleast one embodiment. Such embodiment(s) of the present invention havebeen described with the aid of structural components illustratingphysical and/or logical components and with the aid of method stepsillustrating the performance of specified functions and relationshipsthereof. The boundaries and sequence of these functional building blocksand method steps have been arbitrarily defined herein for convenience ofdescription. Alternate boundaries and sequences can be defined so longas the specified functions and relationships are appropriatelyperformed. Any such alternate boundaries or sequences are thus withinthe scope and spirit of the claims that follow. Further, the boundariesof these functional building blocks have been arbitrarily defined forconvenience of description. Alternate boundaries could be defined aslong as the certain significant functions are appropriately performed.Similarly, flow diagram blocks may also have been arbitrarily definedherein to illustrate certain significant functionality. To the extentused, the flow diagram block boundaries and sequence could have beendefined otherwise and still perform the certain significantfunctionality. Such alternate definitions of both functional buildingblocks and flow diagram blocks and sequences are thus within the scopeand spirit of the claimed invention. One of average skill in the artwill also recognize that the functional building blocks, and otherillustrative blocks, modules and components herein, can be implementedas illustrated or by discrete components, application specificintegrated circuits, processors executing appropriate software and thelike or any combination thereof.

As may also be used herein, the terms “processing module,” “processingcircuit,” “processing circuitry,” and/or “processing unit” may be asingle processing device or a plurality of processing devices. Such aprocessing device may be a microprocessor, micro-controller, digitalsignal processor, microcomputer, central processing unit, fieldprogrammable gate array, programmable logic device, state machine, logiccircuitry, analog circuitry, digital circuitry, and/or any device thatmanipulates signals (analog and/or digital) based on hard coding of thecircuitry and/or operational instructions. The processing module,module, processing circuit, and/or processing unit may be, or furtherinclude, memory and/or an integrated memory element, which may be asingle memory device, a plurality of memory devices, and/or embeddedcircuitry of another processing module, module, processing circuit,and/or processing unit. Such a memory device may be a read-only memory,random access memory, volatile memory, non-volatile memory, staticmemory, dynamic memory, flash memory, cache memory, and/or any devicethat stores digital information. Note that if the processing module,module, processing circuit, and/or processing unit includes more thanone processing device, the processing devices may be centrally located(e.g., directly coupled together via a wired and/or wireless busstructure) or may be distributedly located (e.g., cloud computing viaindirect coupling via a local area network and/or a wide area network).Further note that if the processing module, module, processing circuit,and/or processing unit implements one or more of its functions via astate machine, analog circuitry, digital circuitry, and/or logiccircuitry, the memory and/or memory element storing the correspondingoperational instructions may be embedded within, or external to, thecircuitry comprising the state machine, analog circuitry, digitalcircuitry, and/or logic circuitry. Still further note that, the memoryelement may store, and the processing module, module, processingcircuit, and/or processing unit executes, hard coded and/or operationalinstructions corresponding to at least some of the steps and/orfunctions illustrated in one or more of the Figures. Such a memorydevice or memory element can be included in an article of manufacture.

As may be used herein, the terms “substantially” and “approximately”provides an industry-accepted tolerance for its corresponding termand/or relativity between items. Such an industry-accepted toleranceranges from less than one percent to fifty percent and corresponds to,but is not limited to, component values, integrated circuit processvariations, temperature variations, rise and fall times, and/or thermalnoise. Such relativity between items ranges from a difference of a fewpercent to magnitude differences. As may also be used herein, theterm(s) “configured to,” “operably coupled to,” “coupled to,” and/or“coupling” includes direct coupling between items and/or indirectcoupling between items via an intervening item (e.g., an item includes,but is not limited to, a component, an element, a circuit, and/or amodule) where, for an example of indirect coupling, the intervening itemdoes not modify the information of a signal but may adjust its currentlevel, voltage level, and/or power level. As may further be used herein,inferred coupling (i.e., where one element is coupled to another elementby inference) includes direct and indirect coupling between two items inthe same manner as “coupled to”. As may even further be used herein, theterm “configured to,” “operable to,” “coupled to,” or “operably coupledto” indicates that an item includes one or more of power connections,input(s), output(s), etc., to perform, when activated, one or more itscorresponding functions and may further include inferred coupling to oneor more other items. As may still further be used herein, the term“associated with,” includes direct and/or indirect coupling of separateitems and/or one item being embedded within another item.

Unless specifically stated to the contra, signals to, from, and/orbetween elements in a figure of any of the figures presented herein maybe analog or digital, continuous time or discrete time, and single-endedor differential. For instance, if a signal path is shown as asingle-ended path, it also represents a differential signal path.Similarly, if a signal path is shown as a differential path, it alsorepresents a single-ended signal path. While one or more particulararchitectures are described herein, other architectures can likewise beimplemented that use one or more data buses not expressly shown, directconnectivity between elements, and/or indirect coupling between otherelements as recognized by one of average skill in the art.

The term “module” is used in the description of one or more of theembodiments. A module includes a processing module, a functional block,hardware, and/or software stored on memory for performing one or morefunctions as may be described herein. Note that, if the module isimplemented via hardware, the hardware may operate independently and/orin conjunction with software and/or firmware. As also used herein, amodule may contain one or more sub-modules, each of which may be one ormore modules.

While particular combinations of various functions and features of theone or more embodiments have been expressly described herein, othercombinations of these features and functions are likewise possible. Thepresent disclosure of an invention is not limited by the particularexamples disclosed herein and expressly incorporates these othercombinations.

What is claimed is:
 1. A communication device comprising: acommunication interface; and processing circuitry that is coupled to thecommunication interface, wherein at least one of the communicationinterface or the processing circuitry configured to: receive at leastone signal from at least one other communication device via acommunication channel that includes one or more upstream (US) channelsand one or more downstream (DS) channels within a communication system;process the at least one signal to generate first spectrum analysis (SA)information based on a first full bandwidth of an US usable frequencyspectrum for the one or more US channels within the communicationsystem; process the at least one signal to generate second SAinformation based on a second full bandwidth of a DS usable frequencyspectrum for the one or more DS channels within the communicationsystem, wherein full bandwidth of a usable frequency spectrum in thecommunication system spans both the first full bandwidth and the secondfull bandwidth; and transmit the first SA information and the second SAinformation to another communication device to be used by the anothercommunication device to determine a performance characteristic of atleast one of the one or more US channels or at least one of the one ormore DS channels within the communication system.
 2. The communicationdevice of claim 1, wherein the at least one of the communicationinterface or the processing circuitry is further configured to: processthe at least one signal that is received from the at least one othercommunication device via the communication channel to identify aplurality of pilot tones therein; process the plurality of pilot tonestherein based on expected values of the plurality of pilot tones todetermine at least one other performance characteristic of thecommunication channel that includes the one or more US channels and theone or more DS channels within the communication system; and generate atleast one of the first SA information or the second SA information basedon the at least one other performance characteristic of thecommunication channel that includes the one or more US channels and theone or more DS channels within the communication system.
 3. Thecommunication device of claim 1, wherein the at least one of thecommunication interface or the processing circuitry is furtherconfigured to: process the at least one signal that is received from theat least one other communication device via the communication channelbased on equalization using a plurality of equalizer coefficients;process at least one of the plurality of equalizer coefficients orchanges of the plurality of equalizer coefficients made during theequalization to determine at least one other performance characteristicof the communication channel that includes the one or more US channelsand the one or more DS channels within the communication system; andgenerate at least one of the first SA information or the second SAinformation based on the at least one other performance characteristicof the communication channel that includes the one or more US channelsand the one or more DS channels within the communication system.
 4. Thecommunication device of claim 1, wherein the at least one of thecommunication interface or the processing circuitry is furtherconfigured to: process the at least one signal that is received from theat least one other communication device via the communication channel toidentify an internal frequency response of the communication device; andprocess the internal frequency response of the communication device todetermine at least one other performance characteristic of thecommunication channel that includes the one or more US channels and theone or more DS channels within the communication system; and generate atleast one of the first SA information or the second SA information basedon the at least one other performance characteristic of thecommunication channel that includes the one or more US channels and theone or more DS channels within the communication system.
 5. Thecommunication device of claim 1, wherein at least one of: the first SAinformation includes a first frequency response of the first fullbandwidth of the US usable frequency spectrum for the one or more USchannels within the communication system; the second SA informationincludes a second frequency response of the second full bandwidth of theDS usable frequency spectrum for the one or more DS channels within thecommunication system; the first SA information includes at least one offirst interference or first noise detected on the first full bandwidthof the US usable frequency spectrum for the one or more US channelswithin the communication system; the second SA information includes atleast one of second interference or second noise detected on the secondfull bandwidth of the DS usable frequency spectrum for the one or moreDS channels within the communication system; the first SA informationincludes at least one of first reflections on the first full bandwidthof the US usable frequency spectrum for the one or more US channelswithin the communication system; the second SA information includes atleast one of second reflections on the second full bandwidth of the DSusable frequency spectrum for the one or more DS channels within thecommunication system; the first SA information includes at least one offirst frequency nulls on the first full bandwidth of the US usablefrequency spectrum for the one or more US channels within thecommunication system; or the second SA information includes at least oneof second frequency nulls on the second full bandwidth of the DS usablefrequency spectrum for the one or more DS channels within thecommunication system; at least one of the first SA information or thesecond SA information includes an internal frequency response of thecommunication device; or at least one of the first SA information or thesecond SA information includes at least one of a change, a trend, or adegradation associated with at least one other performancecharacteristic of the communication channel that includes the one ormore US channels and the one or more DS channels within thecommunication system.
 6. The communication device of claim 1, whereinthe at least one of the communication interface or the processingcircuitry is further configured to: support communications within atleast one of a wireless communication system, a wired communicationsystem, or a fiber-optic communication system.
 7. The communicationdevice of claim 1, wherein the full bandwidth of the usable frequencyspectrum in the communication system has an upper bound of approximately1008 MHz.
 8. The communication device of claim 1 further comprising: acable modem or a set-top box (STB), wherein the another communicationdevice includes a cable headend transmitter or a cable modem terminationsystem (CMTS).
 9. A communication device comprising: a communicationinterface; and processing circuitry that is coupled to the communicationinterface, wherein at least one of the communication interface or theprocessing circuitry configured to: receive at least one signal from atleast one other communication device via a communication channel thatincludes one or more upstream (US) channels and one or more downstream(DS) channels within a communication system that includes at least oneof a wireless communication system, a wired communication system, or afiber-optic communication; process the at least one signal to generatefirst spectrum analysis (SA) information based on a first full bandwidthof an US usable frequency spectrum for the one or more US channelswithin the communication system; process the at least one signal togenerate second SA information based on a second full bandwidth of a DSusable frequency spectrum for the one or more DS channels within thecommunication system, wherein full bandwidth of a usable frequencyspectrum in the communication system spans both the first full bandwidthand the second full bandwidth, wherein the full bandwidth of the usablefrequency spectrum in the communication system has an upper bound ofapproximately 1008 MHz; and transmit the first SA information and thesecond SA information to another communication device to be used by theanother communication device to determine a performance characteristicof at least one of the one or more US channels or at least one of theone or more DS channels within the communication system.
 10. Thecommunication device of claim 9, wherein the at least one of thecommunication interface or the processing circuitry is furtherconfigured to: process the at least one signal that is received from theat least one other communication device via the communication channel toidentify a plurality of pilot tones therein; process the plurality ofpilot tones therein based on expected values of the plurality of pilottones to determine at least one other performance characteristic of thecommunication channel that includes the one or more US channels and theone or more DS channels within the communication system; and generate atleast one of the first SA information or the second SA information basedon the at least one other performance characteristic of thecommunication channel that includes the one or more US channels and theone or more DS channels within the communication system.
 11. Thecommunication device of claim 9, wherein the at least one of thecommunication interface or the processing circuitry is furtherconfigured to: process the at least one signal that is received from theat least one other communication device via the communication channelbased on equalization using a plurality of equalizer coefficients;process at least one of the plurality of equalizer coefficients orchanges of the plurality of equalizer coefficients made during theequalization to determine at least one other performance characteristicof the communication channel that includes the one or more US channelsand the one or more DS channels within the communication system; andgenerate at least one of the first SA information or the second SAinformation based on the at least one other performance characteristicof the communication channel that includes the one or more US channelsand the one or more DS channels within the communication system.
 12. Thecommunication device of claim 9, wherein the at least one of thecommunication interface or the processing circuitry is furtherconfigured to: process the at least one signal that is received from theat least one other communication device via the communication channel toidentify an internal frequency response of the communication device; andprocess the internal frequency response of the communication device todetermine at least one other performance characteristic of thecommunication channel that includes the one or more US channels and theone or more DS channels within the communication system; and generate atleast one of the first SA information or the second SA information basedon the at least one other performance characteristic of thecommunication channel that includes the one or more US channels and theone or more DS channels within the communication system.
 13. Thecommunication device of claim 9, wherein at least one of: the first SAinformation includes a first frequency response of the first fullbandwidth of the US usable frequency spectrum for the one or more USchannels within the communication system; the second SA informationincludes a second frequency response of the second full bandwidth of theDS usable frequency spectrum for the one or more DS channels within thecommunication system; the first SA information includes at least one offirst interference or first noise detected on the first full bandwidthof the US usable frequency spectrum for the one or more US channelswithin the communication system; the second SA information includes atleast one of second interference or second noise detected on the secondfull bandwidth of the DS usable frequency spectrum for the one or moreDS channels within the communication system; the first SA informationincludes at least one of first reflections on the first full bandwidthof the US usable frequency spectrum for the one or more US channelswithin the communication system; the second SA information includes atleast one of second reflections on the second full bandwidth of the DSusable frequency spectrum for the one or more DS channels within thecommunication system; the first SA information includes at least one offirst frequency nulls on the first full bandwidth of the US usablefrequency spectrum for the one or more US channels within thecommunication system; or the second SA information includes at least oneof second frequency nulls on the second full bandwidth of the DS usablefrequency spectrum for the one or more DS channels within thecommunication system; at least one of the first SA information or thesecond SA information includes an internal frequency response of thecommunication device; or at least one of the first SA information or thesecond SA information includes at least one of a change, a trend, or adegradation associated with at least one other performancecharacteristic of the communication channel that includes the one ormore US channels and the one or more DS channels within thecommunication system.
 14. The communication device of claim 9 furthercomprising: a cable modem or a set-top box (STB), wherein the anothercommunication device includes a cable headend transmitter or a cablemodem termination system (CMTS).
 15. A method for execution by acommunication device, the method comprising: receiving, via acommunication interface of the communication device, at least one signalfrom at least one other communication device via a communication channelthat includes one or more upstream (US) channels and one or moredownstream (DS) channels within a communication system; processing theat least one signal to generate first spectrum analysis (SA) informationbased on a first full bandwidth of an US usable frequency spectrum forthe one or more US channels within the communication system; processingthe at least one signal to generate second SA information based on asecond full bandwidth of a DS usable frequency spectrum for the one ormore DS channels within the communication system, wherein full bandwidthof a usable frequency spectrum in the communication system spans boththe first full bandwidth and the second full bandwidth; andtransmitting, via the communication interface of the communicationdevice, the first SA information and the second SA information toanother communication device to be used by the another communicationdevice to determine a performance characteristic of at least one of theone or more US channels or at least one of the one or more DS channelswithin the communication system.
 16. The method of claim 15 furthercomprising: processing the at least one signal that is received from theat least one other communication device via the communication channel toidentify a plurality of pilot tones therein; processing the plurality ofpilot tones therein based on expected values of the plurality of pilottones to determine at least one other performance characteristic of thecommunication channel that includes the one or more US channels and theone or more DS channels within the communication system; and generatingat least one of the first SA information or the second SA informationbased on the at least one other performance characteristic of thecommunication channel that includes the one or more US channels and theone or more DS channels within the communication system.
 17. The methodof claim 15 further comprising: processing the at least one signal thatis received from the at least one other communication device via thecommunication channel based on equalization using a plurality ofequalizer coefficients; processing at least one of the plurality ofequalizer coefficients or changes of the plurality of equalizercoefficients made during the equalization to determine at least oneother performance characteristic of the communication channel thatincludes the one or more US channels and the one or more DS channelswithin the communication system; and generating at least one of thefirst SA information or the second SA information based on the at leastone other performance characteristic of the communication channel thatincludes the one or more US channels and the one or more DS channelswithin the communication system.
 18. The method of claim 15 furthercomprising: processing the at least one signal that is received from theat least one other communication device via the communication channel toidentify an internal frequency response of the communication device; andprocessing the internal frequency response of the communication deviceto determine at least one other performance characteristic of thecommunication channel that includes the one or more US channels and theone or more DS channels within the communication system; and generatingat least one of the first SA information or the second SA informationbased on the at least one other performance characteristic of thecommunication channel that includes the one or more US channels and theone or more DS channels within the communication system.
 19. The methodof claim 15, wherein at least one of: the first SA information includesa first frequency response of the first full bandwidth of the US usablefrequency spectrum for the one or more US channels within thecommunication system; the second SA information includes a secondfrequency response of the second full bandwidth of the DS usablefrequency spectrum for the one or more DS channels within thecommunication system; the first SA information includes at least one offirst interference or first noise detected on the first full bandwidthof the US usable frequency spectrum for the one or more US channelswithin the communication system; the second SA information includes atleast one of second interference or second noise detected on the secondfull bandwidth of the DS usable frequency spectrum for the one or moreDS channels within the communication system; the first SA informationincludes at least one of first reflections on the first full bandwidthof the US usable frequency spectrum for the one or more US channelswithin the communication system; the second SA information includes atleast one of second reflections on the second full bandwidth of the DSusable frequency spectrum for the one or more DS channels within thecommunication system; the first SA information includes at least one offirst frequency nulls on the first full bandwidth of the US usablefrequency spectrum for the one or more US channels within thecommunication system; or the second SA information includes at least oneof second frequency nulls on the second full bandwidth of the DS usablefrequency spectrum for the one or more DS channels within thecommunication system; at least one of the first SA information or thesecond SA information includes an internal frequency response of thecommunication device; or at least one of the first SA information or thesecond SA information includes at least one of a change, a trend, or adegradation associated with at least one other performancecharacteristic of the communication channel that includes the one ormore US channels and the one or more DS channels within thecommunication system.
 20. The method of claim 15, wherein the fullbandwidth of the usable frequency spectrum in the communication systemhas an upper bound of approximately 1008 MHz.